Yesterday it was announced that visitors at the London Games have spent almost $700 million using their Visa cards in the first week:

Spending categories that experienced the greatest activity include “Services” (US$133.7 million) – including items such as shoe and jewelry repair and spas; “Entertainment” (US$95.5 million) – including theater tickets and other attractions; “Airlines” (US$82.9 million); “Other Retailers” (US$71.8 million) – including bike shops, book stores, antique shops, and drug stores and more; and “Hotels” (US$69.3 million).

Top Ten Contributors to Spend on Visa Accounts by Country/Territory During Week One of the Games (Throughout the United Kingdom)

Ranking	Country/Territory	Total Spend (USD)	% of Total
1	United States	$85.5 million	12%
2	Japan	$50.9 million	7%
3	France	$41.5 million	6%
4	Italy	$39.5 million	6%
5	Australia	$35.3 million	5%
6	Republic of Ireland	$32.4 million	5%
7	Spain	$31.1 million	4%
8	Germany	$30.9 million	4%
9	Canada	$24.1 million	3%
10	Sweden	$23.4 million	3%

The top 10 contributing countries accounted for 57 per cent of the total amount spent on Visa accounts in the United Kingdom during this time period.

This story has been widely distributed. Combined with another successful real-time congratulatory commercial, this lead to Visa having the largest news coverage of the Top Olympic sponsors.

The Medalists for yesterday are:

• Gold: Visa
• Silver: Coke
• Bronze: McDonald’s

Will Visa, Coke, and McDonald’s continue to dominate the news coverage, or will another sponsor take the spotlight week 2? Check back Monday !